ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on recent research in cognitive psychology, especially in prospective memory, to suggest ways in which the challenges of concurrent task demands can be better managed and vulnerability to omitting intended actions can be reduced. One Line Operations Safety Audits (LOSA) study claims that 75 percent of safety-threatening factors occur during the Pretakeoff phase, although the consequences of these factors may not occur until after takeoff. The original Flight Operations Manual (FOM) described the After Start procedure, which was followed by a short After Start checklist, 'silently' performed from memory by the first officer who also announced it 'complete'. The FOM then went on to discuss taxi considerations, following which it described the Pretakeoff procedure. The key to reducing errors of omission was to minimize the need for concurrent task management and for prospective memory tasks. Checklists are used by human operators in many work domains.
